Cons

Bottom Line

The Gryphon Smart WiFi Mesh System is a solid performer that offers extensive parental controls and comes with built-in anti-malware protection and an intuitive mobile app.

Jan. 23, 2019

Whole-home Wi-Fi systems, or mesh systems, are all about seamless wireless coverage and ease of use. Most are simple to install and easily managed using a mobile app, and they are typically easy on the eyes, which means you can place them out in the open rather than tucked away in a closet. With the Gryphon Smart WiFi Mesh System ($399 for a two-pack), you get all this, and more. This tri-band AC3000 system is a strong performer, offers extensive parental controls, and comes with a one-year anti-malware and antivirus subscription powered by ESET Technology. It's an excellent choice for parents who want more control over what their children are doing online, but it's not quite as versatile as our Editors' Choice, the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus.

Robust Parental Controls

We reviewed the two-pack Smart WiFi Mesh System, which covers large homes of up to 6,000 square feet. You can buy a single unit for $249 that covers 3,000 square feet, or use it to add additional coverage to the two-pack system. The nodes are identical: They are slightly tapered white towers that stand 9.3 inches tall and measure 4.2 inches at the base and 4.0 inches at the top. The towers have a unique shape that looks as if somebody grabbed the top with one hand and the base with the other hand and gave it a twist. There are three Gigabit LAN ports around back, a WAN port, a power jack, and a reset button.

Under the hood are a Qualcomm 4019 chipset with a quad-core CPU, 512MB of RAM, and 4GB of flash memory, along with six Wi-Fi antennas and a Bluetooth radio. The Gryphon is a tri-band AC3000 router that supports speeds of up to 1.7Gbps on one of the 5GHz bands and up to 400Mbps on the 2.4GHz band. The second 5GHz band, used for backhaul communications between nodes, maxes out at 866Mbps. The router supports 4x4 MU-MIMO (simultaneous data streaming), beamforming (direct-to-client signal transmissions), and automatic band steering (the router chooses the best radio band for optimal performance).

The Gryphon is installed and managed using a thoughtfully designed mobile app. There's no web console, and that's by design: The folks at Gryphon believe that a web UI introduces vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit. The app opens to a Dashboard with a round Pause button that allows you to pause the internet for any managed devices.

Below that are tabs for four client types: Managed Devices, Unmanaged Devices, Things, and TV & Entertainment. Managed devices are client devices that have been assigned to a user or a group and have been given internet access using parental control settings, which allow you to monitor online activities. Unmanaged devices have no restrictions and cannot be paused, and Things are for devices such as thermostats, lights, and door locks that should not be paused. TV & Entertainment devices include smart TVs, media servers, and other connected devices that you may want to pause.

To manage a device, tap Unmanaged Devices and select the device from the list. Next, assign it to a User or a Guest, or add a new user. You can also assign it to a Family group, which assigns the same parental controls to each device in the group. When you create a new User, you will be prompted to pick an age group with specific parental control filters, among them Toddler, Elementary School, Middle School, High School, Adult (18+), and Unrestricted (unfiltered). You can further enhance protection by enabling the Safe Search/YouTube filter that prevents access to adult content, and by enabling the Store Browsing History option that allows parents to view their children's browsing history. (This is automatically disabled for adults and guests.)

Other parental controls on the Gryphon system include Bedtime, which allows parents to shut down internet access at a specific time of day, and Homework Time, which allows parents to schedule a time of day when online access is limited to websites required for school work. If your child finishes assigned homework early, he/she can visit the GryphonCare website to request normal access. This sends a notification to the parents' mobile app, where they can end the Homework time limits on an as-needed basis. You can also allow/disallow access to numerous apps during normal and home time, including Facebook, YouTube, Hulu, Minecraft, Netflix, Pandora, and more.

At the bottom of the Dashboard screen are buttons for Notifications, Users, Home (Dashboard), Network, and Settings. Notifications include alerts when a device joins the network, when malware is detected, or when a security issue arises, and the Users button takes you to a screen where you can create users and groups, assign parental controls, and see which devices are assigned to each user or group. The Network button lets you conduct an internet speed test (upload and download) and see which devices are connected to the Gryphon router and which ones are connected to the node.

Here you can also view any network vulnerabilities and assign bandwidth priority to a device, but you don't get the application-specific QoS settings that you get with the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus system. Finally, the Settings screen gives you access to basic Wi-Fi settings (Primary and Guest network SSID and password), manual or automatic DNS settings, and Malware protection, which offers three levels of detection: Essential (dangerous threats only), Recommended (dangerous and moderate threats), and All Threats. Malware protection is powered by ESET Technology and lasts for one year. After that, you'll have to pay $9.99 per month.

Solid Performance

To install the Gryphon system, start by downloading the mobile app and creating an account. Once you've verified your email address, you'll be prompted to scan the QR code on the base of the router. Tap Setup New Gryphon to install the main router node and follow the on-screen instructions to connect the router to your existing modem and power it up. Confirm that the LED is blinking white, tap Next, and wait a few seconds for the app to pair with the router. The following step allows you to create a new network or use your existing SSID and password.

You can also set up a guest network at this point. Once the settings are saved, you can install the second node by scanning the QR code and plugging in the node. Once the LED blinks white, you'll have to wait 30 seconds or so for the node to connect to the main router, at which point the app will check the signal strength to the router. If it comes back Good, you're all set. If not, you may have to move the node closer to the router and try again. Select a location from the list (Living Room, Bedroom, and so on), and installation is complete.

The Gryphon router and node turned in solid scores on our SU-MIMO and MU-MIMO throughput tests. The main router's score of 525Mbps on the SU-MIMO close-proximity (same-room) test was a bit higher than the Linksys Velop Dual-Band router and just a tad slower than the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus and the Asus Lyra Trio routers. The Linksys Velop Tri-Band router led with a score of 556Mbps. On our 30-foot test, the Gryphon router garnered 220Mbps, beating the Asus Lyra Trio and the Linksys Velop Dual-Band by more than 100Mbps. The TP-Link Deco M9 Plus and the Linksys Velop Tri-Band routers were slightly faster, with scores of 230Mbps and 236Mbps, respectively.

The Gryphon node managed 277Mbps on the close-proximity test, beating both Linksys Velop nodes (Dual-Band and Tri-Band) and the Asus Lyra Trio node. The TP-Link Deco M9 Plus led with a score of 386Mbps. The Gryphon node's score of 272Mbps on the 30-foot test was second only to the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus (297Mbps).

On our MU-MIMO tests, in which we use three identical Acer Aspire E15 laptops equipped with Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 wireless 802.11ac network adapters as clients, the Gryphon router scored 120Mbps at close proximity, beating the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus by a hair, but coming in just behind the Linksys Velop Dual-Band router (138Mbps). The Linksys Velop Tri-Band led by a wide margin with 264Mbps. The Gryphon router's score of 71Mbps on the 30-foot test beat the Linksys Velop Dual-Band router and was just 14Mbps slower than the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus. Once again, the Linksys Velop Tri-Band took top honors with a score of 116Mbps.

Scoring 90Mbps, the Gryphon node was faster than both of the Linksys nodes (Dual-Band and Tri-Band) and took a close second to the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus (100Mbps) on the close-proximity test. Results were similar on the 30-foot test, with the Gryphon (68Mbps) beating both Linksys nodes, but not the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus.

A Mesh System for Families

The Gryphon Smart WiFi Mesh System not only blankets your home in seamless Wi-Fi, but it also lets you closely monitor your family's online activities and control what sites they can visit, and when. It's a tri-band system that dedicates one 5GHz band to backhaul and uses the remaining two bands to deliver relatively fast throughput to homes of up to 6,000 square feet. Its robust parental controls are easily managed using the Gryphon mobile app, and its cloud-based security service will protect your network and connected devices from malware and virus attacks.

If you're looking for a Wi-Fi system that will also control your home automation devices, our Editors' Choice, the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus, is your best bet. It delivered some of the highest scores on our throughput tests, and its HomeCare service offers plenty of parental controls, virus protection, one-touch application specific QoS settings, and other services.

About the Author

As a Contributing Editor for PC Magazine, John Delaney has been testing and reviewing monitors, HDTVs, PCs, servers, and other assorted hardware and peripherals for more than 14 years. A 13-year veteran of PC Magazine's Labs (most recently as Director of Operations), John was responsible for the recruitment, training and management of the Labs technical staff, as well as evaluating and maintaining the integrity of the Labs testing machines and procedures.

Prior to joining Ziff Davis Publishing, John spent six years in retail operations for Federated Stores, Inc. before accepting a purchasing position with Morris Decision Systems, one of New York's first value-added resellers of the original IBM PC. For ... See Full Bio